


silvery sometimes (ghosts)

by monstermash



Category: It Lives (Visual Novels), It Lives in the Woods (Visual Novel)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Supernatural Elements, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-25 06:45:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17116400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monstermash/pseuds/monstermash
Summary: Standing at the edge of the woods, with three out of seven of the people he’s talked tomaybea handful of times in the past decade, Andy takes a brief moment to wonder exactly when things got out of hand.(When he looks back on this – on everything – later, much later, he’ll find it funny at how wrong he had been this night; things were going to get worse before they got even remotely better. But there’s no way he could’ve known. No wayanyof them could’ve known.)





	silvery sometimes (ghosts)

**Author's Note:**

> title comes from [this song,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-G1cON17_c) which i feel just kinda fits the vibe of It Live in the Woods, which is so far my favorite storyline from Choices. and it also fits my version of Devon (he's basically the 90s grunge of the group tbh since Ava is already the group goth lmao)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Devon's face claim is young [Rick Mora](https://data.whicdn.com/images/27076537/large.jpg)

“You could just go talk to him you know.”

The sound of Tom’s voice startles him in the nearly deafening silence. Andy glares at his friend and at the grin on his face.

“Last chance before summer,” Tom quietly singsongs at him; if he were anyone else, Andy might’ve throttled him by now.

Andy ignores him in favor of staring at the clock, willing the hands to move faster. They don’t. He resolutely ignores the growing sense of _‘Just do it already’_ radiating from Tom every time Andy glances three rows ahead and one to the left and tries not to swallow around the lump in his throat.

“C’mon, you can do this,” Tom tells him, voice still hushed so as to not draw attention from Mr. Rourke, who seems to be just as ready as everyone else for the last day to be over with. “You two used to talk all the time.”

“When we were _eight,”_ Andy nearly hisses.

Tom just shrugs like it’s not that big a deal. “That girl Lily still talks to him sometimes. Dan Pierce too.”

There’s nothing but the sound of the clock ticking for a few moments.

_Tick tock. Tick. Tock._

With a groan, Tom slouches down in his chair.

“Bro, _please._ You’re _killing_ me here. You can’t honestly tell me you’re totally fine with pining from afar.”

Andy can only grunt in reply; no, he isn’t fine with it, but he’s just got this feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach every time he even thinks about doing something about it. Like he’ll embarrass himself or something, but worse. Ugh, his stomach is twisting in knots like the first time he went on the Brain Drain.

“I’ll talk to him. After class,” Andy finally concedes.

\---

Standing at the edge of the woods, with three out of seven of the people he’s talked to _maybe_ a handful of times in the past decade, Andy takes a brief moment to wonder exactly when things got out of hand.

(When he looks back on this – on everything – later, much later, he’ll find it funny at how wrong he had been this night; things were going to get worse before they got even remotely better. But there’s no way he could’ve known. No way _any_ of them could’ve known.)

He watches as Devon finishes wrapping barbed wire around the baseball bat and giving it a few test swings, the collar of his flannel shirt moving enough to reveal the hand shaped bruises that wrap around his neck. There’s a flare of anger again, at the sight of them, and a sickly, sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach; they’d all gotten those weird texts from Dan, but Devon had been the only one who had been attacked.

 _“Maybe it’s because you live closest to the woods?”_ Andy had suggested on their way to the hardware store earlier. 

There might’ve been more to it than that – hell, there definitely _is_ more to it than that – but it was the only explanation he could think of as to why the dirt monster only came after Devon; pretty much all of them lived in town, except for Lily, but her house wasn’t right next to the woods. Not like Devon’s.

(He didn’t think it was really a dirt monster, but he wasn’t about to say it in front of Devon; the guy had been attacked – _strangled_ – by someone, something, and if he says a dirt monster did it, well… then a dirt monster did it.) 

_“Maybe,”_ Devon had agreed, his mouth pulled into frown, deep in thought. 

It struck Andy with surprise that he still knew all of his old friends’ expressions and what they meant, as if there wasn’t a gulf of ten years between them all.

“Alright, now I’m ready for anything,” Devon grins as he steps up to the tree line, barbed bat in hand.

It should be weird, how pretty Devon looks while holding a bat covered in barbed wire, but it’s been a weird day.

(Not to mention he’s thought of Devon as pretty for almost an embarrassingly long time now, not just when he’s holding something dangerous in the woods at night.)

“Let me know if you need someone to hold your hand,” Andy grins back with a wink before moving past Devon and into the trees.

“Here’s hoping we don’t get eaten, possessed, or maimed,” Ava says flatly as she follows after him with Noah right behind her, clicking on his flashlight, the only guiding light in the dark.

It only takes a few moments before Devon catches up with them, the sound of fluttering wings left in his wake.

\---

Andy and Devon became friends in Miss Waverly’s first grade class.

Their seats had been right next to each other, alphabetical order and all that, back when Andy still had pigtails and was called a tomboy and Devon’s front two baby teeth had fallen out, making his smile look weird for a while, not that it stopped him.

Kang next to Little Star.

Looking back on it, Andy can’t really remember what _exactly_ got them to be friends; maybe it was the frog Andy had caught and kept in their shared desk, showing it off to Devon like it was something really cool, which, when you’re six years old it probably was. Or maybe it was the ridiculous faces Devon would make at Cody – who had been a bully even then – when the boy had his head turned.

But it was still Kang next to Little Star; the rowdy then-tomboy who liked to roughhouse in the dirt next to the kid who laughed loud and often with a too big heart.

\---

The shadows seem to stretch unnaturally long, but Andy can’t remember if it’s always been like that or not; sure, Westchester is pretty much surrounded by the forest, isolated from the rest of the world by a thick wall of trees, but it’s not like he’s made a habit of traipsing through the woods at night.

Not since they were kids, anyway.

Every now and then, he thinks he sees them flickering, but when he looks – really _looks_ – they’re just shadows, nothing off or unnatural about them.

It’s just his mind playing tricks in the dark.

Pushing away thoughts of crawling shadows, Andy turns his attention back to the task at hand; looking for Dan.

Devon and Noah lead the way, a stark contrast between them; Noah clutches the flashlight in a white knuckled grip, tense with nerves and an anger that’s always boiling just beneath the surface, whereas Devon holds Crowd Control loose but firm, walking through the woods with ease and confidence, like he’s done it a thousand times.

But he hasn’t; none of them has ever come back here, or at least never gone this far in, in a long, long time.

Not since Jane.

“Well, this place is as creepy as ever,” Noah mutters, nearly tripping over a tree root.

Devon shrugs.

“I don’t know. It almost feels like… home.”

Andy can see Ava’s eyebrows shoot up out of the corner of his eye, but neither of them say anything. It makes sense, in a way; Andy remembers the stories Devon used to share when they were younger. Stories of K'mukamtch, or that one about Coyote and Crane, told to him by his granny who spent a lot of time out in these woods herself, and then from him to them.

So of course this place feels like home to him, because it is; the damn county’s even _named_ after his people.

A cold breeze rushes past them, through the towering trees, and they all stop walking when Devon does, his head cocked slightly to the side, before walking off to the right, into the dark, diverting from the mostly straight path they’d been taking.

“Devon?” Noah asks, before either Andy or Ava can speak up. “Where are you going?”

Devon looks back at them, mouth slightly agape with surprise. “You don’t hear that? It’s coming from this way…”

And then Devon turns back around, walking further and further into the dark. They hesitate, looking at one another, before Andy shrugs and follows after Devon.

They follow Devon, the beam of light bouncing with every step Noah takes, and it isn’t long until Andy starts hearing it too; a low whistling sound, weak and barely there, but loud enough to draw attention. The sound leads them to a cluster of old, twisted trees, warped and wrapped around each other, unnatural like the writhing shadows.

There’s something caught on one of the lower branches, but Andy can’t tell what it is in the dark.

But it isn’t so dark that Andy can’t see the tremor in Devon’s hands when he reaches out for it.

They practically crowd around Devon to see what it is, an oddly familiar looking wooden whistle that has seen better days, but it’s Noah again who speaks up first.

“Is that…”

“I thought it was lost,” Devon whispers, a tremor in his voice to match the one in his hands.

“Where’d it come from?” Andy asks, his brow furrowing in confusion, because who would leave it out here? If someone dropped it, that would be one thing, but it was just… hanging there on the branch, like someone put it there with the intention of coming back for it.

Or for someone else to find it.

“Weird,” Ava comments, nose scrunching up a little.

Then it finally hits him, where he’s seen this whistle before; it used to be Jane’s.

When Andy finally looks up from it and at Devon, there’s a sad, distant expression on his face.

“It was her birthday present. If she ever got into trouble all she had to do was blow it, and… and…”

It feels like the wind’s been knocked out of him when Devon’s eyes start to water and Andy’s at a bit of a loss at what to do, unsure if there’s even anything he _can_ do.

If there was something he could’ve said or done, he never gets the chance, because instead of finding Dan, or even a dirt monster wearing Dan’s face, they find an amalgamation of vines and bone barreling towards them.

\---

The ruins still haunt his dreams.

Not often, not every night like they had for months after Jane, but they’re still there, lurking behind his eyes.

Waiting, always waiting.

The weird part is that it’s not the cave below the stone house that he has nightmares of.

It’s the trees.

It’s watching his friends falling, lifeless and limp, from the dead trees. Limbs contorted at odd angles, milky white eyes staring out at nothing, their bodies getting tangled in the roots and dragged down into the dirt.

And there’s nothing he can do; every time, he’s forced to just sit there and _watch._

For months after Jane, he couldn’t bear to be around his friends, the stench of rot and dirt invading his senses, and by the time the nightmares began to fade into something that only happened every now and then, it had been too late.

They had all drifted away from each other, like they had never been friends.

As if they were strangers.

Andy doesn’t know if that’s worse or better than watching them fall from the dead trees.

\---

Their thundering footsteps echo and bounce off the trees, sounding more like a storm rolling in instead of four teenagers running for their lives, while being chased by things that look vaguely like dogs, but definitely aren’t.

Andy misses the suspenseful silence from before.

“Devon, we need to turn around! We’re heading straight for the ruins!” 

Noah’s right; in several more yards they’ll be in the ruins, a place that still haunts Andy’s dreams.

(He’s pretty sure he’s not the only one who still dreams of that place. They all had had vivid nightmares for weeks after Jane died; another reason they all drifted apart, pulled away from each other.)

Devon nods and tries to lead them to the right, only for another one of those weird creatures to pop out of nowhere, snarling and snapping at him. Andy barely reaches out in time to grab the back of Devon’s shirt, pulling him out of the way before the skeletal jaw can clamp down on his leg.

 _“Shit,”_ Devon hisses as they keep running. “I think they’re _herding_ us! They _want_ us to go to the ruins!”

“And they _don’t_ want us to find Dan!”

 _If we don’t do something soon Dan won’t be the only one missing,_ Andy thinks but doesn’t say.

“Go right!” Devon tells them, and with a surprising amount of synchronicity, they all turn at the same time, catching the creature off guard. Dodging and twisting around it, they somehow manage to escape its snapping jaws.

Crashing through the underbrush, they don’t stop running until they reach a quiet clearing, just barely catching themselves from tripping over one another.

Andy glances back over his shoulder into the dark, into the twisting shadows of the woods, but he doesn’t see any fiery eyes looking back. That doesn’t mean they’re safe though; he can still hear those creatures howling, and by the sound of it they’re getting closer.

“Yo, we’ve gotta keep moving,” Andy says, breathless from the panic thrumming beneath his skin. “Those freaky skeleton things are right behind us!”

There’s rustling that he can barely hear over the sound of his heart beating wildly in his chest; this was not how he expected tonight to go at all. He’d been hoping that they would find Dan, or at least find a clue, a hint, _something_ to point them in the right direction or at least give them an idea of what happened.

But creatures made of animals bones and plants? If it weren’t for the panic, Andy would think he’s just having a weird nightmare.

“We need to find Dan, _fast._ What if those things are after him too?”

Andy sees Ava tense up, her gaze fixed on something behind Noah. “Yeah, about that…”

It’s another one of those creatures, pawing at something half buried beneath fallen leaves. There’s the glimpse of a familiar dark blue hoodie and _shit, there’s Dan,_ but before any of them can take a step the creature snarls at them, its snapping jaws drooling a viscous yellow.

There’s more growling and snarling coming from the tree line and yup, they’re surrounded.

“Get ready…” Devon warns them, the tremor in his voice and the shake in his hands from earlier gone, and he tightens his grip on Crowd Control until his knuckles turn white. “We can’t let them take Dan.”

“This is not the way I thought tonight would go,” Andy sighs, because it really, really isn’t. But at least none of them are out here alone, so that’s something. Punching bones is gonna be hell on his hands, but split knuckles aren’t the worst he’s ever had to deal with. With a grin, he nudges Devon with his elbow. “But hey, beats homework.”

There’s an amused huff and Devon returns the grin with one of his own. “I guess so.”

After Ava pulls a knife out of her boot, things get chaotic.

\---

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep. And miles to go before I sleep.”

Andy’s nose scrunches in confusion.

“What?”

Devon shrugs, his attention still on the creek, on the tadpoles swimming between his fingers.

“Something my mom read to me. Jack Frost wrote it I think, but I dunno what it means.”

Andy doesn’t know either, doesn’t know why Jack Frost would write it, but maybe it’s important? Westchester does have woods after all, but Andy can’t really see the connection.

“If he’s still got miles to go, I don’t see why Jack Frost doesn’t sleep first. He’s gonna be tired when he gets there if he doesn’t,” Andy reasons, dunking a bucket into the water to catch some tadpoles.

“That’s what I said!” Devon exclaims with a grin; his adult teeth are coming in, so he doesn’t have the big gap in front anymore. “Grown-ups are weird.”

“Grown-ups are weird,” Andy repeats, nodding in agreement. “We should look for salamanders next time.”

“Hey!” They both look up at the top of the hill behind them to find Jane grinning at them. “C’mon, everyone’s gonna play hide and seek!”

Andy dumps the bucketful of tadpoles back into the creek before racing Devon to the top of the hill.

\---

Waking with a groan, Andy sluggishly gets out of bed before the sun is even up; he’d barely gotten any sleep after getting home last night. Or this morning, depending on you look at it. Last night is kind of a blur for him, after they found Jane’s whistle in the tree.

But he does remember the weird plant skeletons, him and the others running through the woods, finding Dan.

Oh man, _Dan._

Dan was a _mess_ when they finally got a better look at him after the fight. He looked like he’d been out there for weeks instead of a day, and then he’d been wild eyed and panicked when he woke up, and whatever he’d said to Devon… well, Devon looked like they’d found Jane’s whistle all over again.

Between Andy and Noah carrying him, they managed to get Dan out of the woods; they didn’t stop walking until they hit the road and called for an ambulance. Then… they all left? Except for Devon.

 _“Someone has to stay with Dan and tell the cops_ something,” Devon had reasoned, one shoulder jerking in a shrug with a smile that tried to go for reassuring, but Andy could see the stiffness of it. _“My parents are out of town for the month, so I’m least likely to get in trouble for running around the woods at night.”_

After that, he doesn’t remember how any of them got home.

To be fair, they’d all been a little shell-shocked.

Dragging his hands down his face, Andy shoves away all thoughts about last night. It can be dealt with later when he doesn’t have to worry about making it to practice on time.

\---

An emergency assembly is called about halfway through the day, but it doesn’t actually happen until after the last class of the day.

Andy sits with Tom and the rest of the basketball team, and he tries to pay attention to what Mayor Green is saying, he really does, but she isn’t telling them much other than that Dan is in the hospital and something, something safety.

There’s an itch of restlessness, to go make sure Dan is really okay, to make sure the others are too. With an air of boredom, Andy casually tries looking around the auditorium; it doesn’t take long before his eyes catch on movement, on Devon quietly moving from his seat a few rows back and over toward the group – Noah, Ava, Lily, and Stacey.

His knee bounces with impatience; he wants to go over there, but it would be too noticeable if he did.

Who the fuck decided the team should sit in the very middle anyway?

And then Devon’s looking back at him, a small smile and a wave, making something behind Andy’s ribs flutter.

“Hey, Romeo, eyes front,” Tom whispers, stifling a laugh when Andy swats at his arm. “I know you’d rather make eyes at him, but Coach is gonna give you a long-winded speech about the importance of paying attention.”

“I wasn’t making eyes,” Andy grumbles, his face heating up, but he faces forward and pretends to listen to the safety speech about bear attacks. It’s nothing they haven’t all heard before, nothing they haven’t had drilled into them since they were little; run downhill at an angle if a bear is chasing you, don’t feed the wildlife, etc.

“Sure you weren’t,” Tom teases, but he drops it and goes back to pretending to pay attention too as Lucas takes the stage.

“So today we’re gonna talk about a few _bear essential_ steps you can take to prevent a _grizzly_ surprise.”

Slouching down in his seat, Andy groans with everyone else. 

Lucas may have gotten taller, but it’s nice to see his sense of humor is still just as bad as ever.

\---

The next time he sees Devon is in the hall after the assembly, Ava and Lily talking with him about something.

“Hey, go on ahead. I’ll catch up,” Andy tells Tom before heading over to them.

“Sure thing,” Tom answers easily, the teasing lilt back in his voice. Andy rolls his eyes, but he can’t help the smile on his face.

Devon meets him halfway, Ava and Lily too engrossed in their own conversation to really notice. Or at the very least they’re pretending not to notice.

“Last night was insane. Sorry I took off before the cops showed up,” Andy apologizes once they’re face to face. He would’ve done this sooner, but he hadn’t been able to find a good time to do so and doing it through text seemed insincere. Andy had wanted to stay, didn’t want to leave Devon and Dan on the side of the road, _barely_ out of reach of the tree line, but he knew if he had stayed out any longer his mom would’ve worried herself sick and then things would go downhill from there. Especially if Andy came home in a squad car, even if he wasn’t in any serious trouble other than wandering the woods with friends at night. “I didn’t want to risk… you know my mom worries enough as it is—”

Thank god Devon cuts him off because he was about to start rambling.

“Andy,” Devon says his name softly, brown eyes crinkling with a smile. “I’m glad you were there.”

“Yeah.” Andy tries to swallow around the sudden dryness of in his throat, because this crush of his is getting out of hand, just a little bit. His mouth hitches up into a smile anyway; it’s kind of hard _not_ to when Devon does, something about his smile – and even his laughter – contagious in a way that leaves a pleasant warmth in Andy’s chest. “Of course.”

With a quick glance down the hall, he can see Tom is waiting for him.

“Listen, I have to get to practice, but… talk later?” He’s sure Devon can hear the hope and the nerves in his voice when he asks and—

“Yeah. Talk later,” Devon answers, his smile small but warm and fond, and good lord, Andy’s a sap. He’s turning into a sap and he’s not even sure he minds all that much, no matter how much ribbing Tom will make him suffer through.

\---

The late bell rings and Andy can’t bring himself to care; he’s got a split lip and he’s still _pissed,_ so he’ll just hang out here in a rarely used back stairwell, thanks.

Middle school had been bad enough, and freshman year too, but he’d been hoping sophomore year would be a little more relaxed. Just a little.

Sure, he doesn’t get called names as much anymore – not to his face anyway – but it’s still so—

He doesn’t have the words for it.

There's the sound of the door at the bottom creaking open, and footsteps coming up the stairs, and it makes him freeze.

For a moment, his heart stops, until he sees who it is; long dark hair, plaid flannel shirt, and carrying a box of art supplies.

Two sets of brown eyes meet and Andy relaxes at the sight of Devon’s smile; he can’t remember the last time they talked, but it’s always been easy to be around Devon.

“Cutting class?” Devon asks and he just the way he says it makes it sound like some sort of inside joke that they’ve had for forever and Andy can’t help but chuckle.

“Yeah. All the cool kids are doing it,” Andy says dryly, and he can feel the anger slowly seeping from his bones. “You?”

That gets a huff of laughter from Devon.

“Nah, I’m not cool enough for that. Just getting some stuff that Mrs. Patel forgot to get from storage.” He gestures to the box in his hands. “Two weeks into the semester and she’s busting out the Gouache.”

“Yeah?” Andy asks him, unsurprisingly finding himself interested. “I thought painting was second semester stuff.”

“Usually it is,” Devon tells him, setting the box down with a sigh and taking a seat next to him on the stairs. “But Cody is being his usual charming self and driving everyone nuts. Mrs. Patel is hoping that painting will make him less obnoxious, but I’m keeping my expectations nice and low.”

“Trust me, whatever low expectations you have, Cody will find a way to go even lower.”

Devon hums in agreement and they sit there for a few moments longer in comfortable silence; Andy’s still angry, but it’s more manageable now. But then Devon gets up, taking the box of art supplies again.

“I gotta get these to Mrs. Patel. It’s my TA period, but… I mean, I usually spend it in the backroom painting so…” Shrugging a shoulder, Devon almost looks shy. “If you don’t wanna hang out here until next period, you’re always welcome to come join me.”

There’s a small, hopeful smile on his face and Andy wants to, he really does, but…

“Maybe next time,” he says instead, his heart almost thudding painfully against his ribs, because the sunlight streaming in through the windows catches in Devon’s eyes and all Andy can think is _‘Oh.’_

He feels like he’s just been sucker punched.

The smile hasn’t dropped from Devon’s face, it just hitches up a little more on one side.

“Sure. I always keep the second door propped open, so drop by whenever you want to. Bye, Andy.”

Andy watches him go, heart beating fast and the back of his neck feeling almost too warm, and doesn’t look away from the door even after it’s closed behind Devon.

He never does end up dropping by, even though he wants to.

\---

Everything’s still kinda – numb? – out of sorts, after Ben got carted off to the hospital.

Even the school nurse had been doubtful Ben’s arm would be healed enough for the game tomorrow. 

Which means Andy’ll take his place.

On the one hand, Andy’s pumped because he’ll _finally_ get to play, but on the other, despite Ben showing his true colors as an absolute jackass, he didn’t deserve to get mauled by a bear. 

Maybe a black eye or two, but not possibly maimed.

But the weirdest thing had been the bear _after_ it attacked Ben; it had looked disoriented, lost, before wandering back off into the trees

A tiny voice in the back of his head suggests that _maybe it was Mr. Red, you remember how he used to make the birds sing at the drop of a dime, he could’ve easily controlled a bear, you saw those things in the woods_ but Andy ignores it, shoves it into a corner of his mind.

Shouldering his bag, Andy starts heading home alone; he’d already waved Tom off, told him to go on ahead.

The walk will clear his head, if nothing else.

Shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket, Andy shakes off a shiver that threatens to run down his spine; Westchester is weird like that. As soon as September hits the lingering summer heat suddenly disappears and the cold sets in, seeps in right down to the bone, and it doesn’t warm back up until maybe June if it’s a good year.

Andy’s watching traffic goes by as he waits for the light to change when he catches sight of Devon across the street with a… dog? When did he get a dog?

Just as the light finally changes, Devon sees him and stops and waits as Andy heads for him and the dog.

“Hey,” Devon grins at him. “Did practice run late?”

And then Andy’s thinking of Ben and the bear attack again.

“Sort of?” Andy grimaces at the memory of it.

Devon’s head tilts slightly in question for a moment, the smile gone and replaced with a thoughtful expression, before gesturing vaguely behind himself. “Walk and talk?”

“Sure,” Andy falls into step next to Devon, mystery dog trotting a few steps ahead of them. “When did you get a dog?”

“I didn’t. Hilda is my neighbor’s dog; I’m just watching her while he’s out of town.”

Andy hums in acknowledgement and Devon doesn’t press him to talk. It’s something Andy’s always appreciated about him, that he’ll wait for you to figure out what you want to say, and if you’ve got nothing at all to say then he doesn’t mind the silence.

And it’s not that Andy doesn’t want to talk, he just doesn’t know how to say _‘hey, I get to be in tomorrow’s game because Ben – who turned out to be a complete jerk – got attacked by a bear.’_

… Actually, he could probably just say it like that.

The metal clinking of keys gets his attention as Devon brings them to a stop in front of a storefront. Andy recognizes the place, passed by it a few times, but he’s never really been inside before.

At his questioning look, Devon gives him an apologetic smile.

“Sorry. Cid asked me to double check some things for him before he leaves tomorrow.” Devon grunts as he has to lean his weight into the door to get it to open. “We can still talk, though. If you want.”

He follows Devon inside, and when the lights are flipped on, there are rows and rows of records, CDs, and old band posters.

“Wouldn’t have pegged this place as a music store,” Andy comments as he sets his backpack down by the door while Devon goes behind the counter; Hilda goes straight for the dog bed next to it.

“A lot of people don’t either,” Devon tells as he ducks below the counter, rummaging around for something. “Cid’s not great at advertising, so we don’t get a lot of customers, but he manages to keep this place open somehow. Which is weird, since the hours aren’t consistent, but I’ve learned to just roll with it.”

“You work here?” Andy asks, leaning over the counter to see what Devon’s doing.

“Yup,” Devon answers, popping the ‘p’ as he does. “Got any song requests?”

“Surprise me.”

“You got it,” Devon grins up at him before flipping through an assortment of records kept in an old milk crate, its label mostly worn away. Andy hoists himself up to sit on the counter and looks out over the rows and shelves; he’s never set foot in this place before today, but it feels comfortable and strangely nostalgic.

He laughs when he hears the opening notes of the song Devon chose plays on the store’s sound system.

“Really? Bennie And The Jets?” Andy groans, but he’s grinning, not really put out at all by the song.

Their shoulders bump together as Devon jumps up to sit on the counter next to Andy, a matching grin of his own. “It’s a good song.”

Legs swinging, the backs of their shoes gently hitting the wood paneling of the counter, they sit and listen to the music for a while; they belt out the chorus line together every time it comes around, off-key and probably a little too loud, before falling into laughter. 

It’s nice. 

It’s really fucking nice to just goof off like this for a little while, and not think about skeletal vine creatures that hang out in the woods or weird bear attacks for a bit.

“I’m going to be in tomorrow’s game,” Andy admits as the song winds down and trails off, and it still doesn’t feel quite real even though he’s still excited about it.

“You are? That’s great!”

“Ben won’t be.”

“Ben’s an asshole,” Devon says and it almost surprises Andy when he sees the pinched brows and frown on his face.

“I know what he did to piss me off, but what’d he do to piss you off?” As far as Andy can recall, he doesn’t think he’s ever seen Ben and Devon within five feet of each other, much less interact.

Biting his lip, Devon looks away, some sort of conflict going on within him before he turns back to Andy. “What I’m about to tell you doesn’t leave the shop, alright?”

“Alright.” Andy doesn’t even hesitate to answer.

Devon nods and tells him about what happened with Stacy, how she overheard what Ben had said about her at a party; Andy can tell there are some details that Devon’s omitting, just by the way he’ll start and then stop and then skip over whatever it was he was about to say. And that’s fine, Andy doesn’t need to know _everything,_ but any sympathy he has for Ben dwindles a little bit more.

The guy is still most definitely an asshole. Maybe not enough to deserve a bear attack, but enough for an ass kicking like Andy had wanted to give him earlier and still does, if he’s being honest.

He’ll just have to wait until Ben’s recovered though.

Of course, Andy tells Devon about what had happened with Ben earlier, and about the bear attack.

“God, what a creep. I can’t believe he said all that bullshit to you,” Devon grimaces. “Before this week I’d never really thought much of him, but looking back on it, probably should’ve figured out he’s a real piece of work. I mean, he hangs out with _Cody.”_

Andy lets out a huff of laughter at the exaggerated disgust on Devon’s face.

It isn’t until his phone buzzes in his pocket – a text from his mom asking what time he’ll be getting home – that Andy even realizes what time it is, how late it’s getting. He swings his bag over his shoulder and waits by the door with Hilda while Devon shuts everything down and locks the door behind them.

The silence is comfortable around them, the only noise being the quiet rush of an occasional car driving by and Hilda’s tags clinking together.

It’s only gotten colder, the temperature practically plummeting from the earlier chill, and Devon’s shivering by the time they reach the corner of Main and Grant.

“Jesus, when did it get cold?”

Shrugging out of his jacket as they wait for the light, Andy holds it out for Devon to take, who only looks at him with surprised eyes.

“Oh, you don’t have to—”

“Devon, my house is just a couple of blocks from here. _You_ pretty much have to walk all the way out of town,” Andy explains, even though they both already know this, and then softly adds, “Besides, you’re cold.”

It’s kind of hard to see it with only the streetlamps for light, but there’s definitely a faint dusting of pink on Devon’s cheeks and it makes Andy’s heart clench, especially when Devon finally takes the jacket from him. It sits a little oddly on Devon – a little too short in the arms but loose on his shoulders – but Andy likes the way it looks on him.

“Thanks,” Devon whispers, just as softly, and Andy doesn’t even notice the chill anymore, not when Devon has that small, pleased smile that does things to Andy’s heart.

The moment seems to last forever, them slightly swaying closer to each other, leaning into each other’s space, and—

And then Andy’s phone buzzes again and just like that, the moment’s over and they both take a step back.

“See you tomorrow?”

“See you tomorrow,” Devon repeats, a hint of a smile on his lips as he takes another step back before turning around and heading down the street with Hilda.

Letting out a shaky sigh, Andy waits until his heart stops beating painfully against his ribs.

\---

“You’ll do great,” Tom tells him again, for the third time in the past twenty minutes.

Andy can’t help but pace, jittery and restless from nerves and excitement.

“He’s totally right,” Stacy says with a bright smile and conviction; he’s missed her, missed the whole group to be honest, and he’s glad to have them back in his life despite the not so good circumstances that lead them back to each other. “You’ll knock ‘em dead, Andy.”

Not to sound obnoxious or arrogant, but Andy knows they’re right; he _knows_ he’s great – fantastic, even – and has never once doubted his skill at playing basketball, but there’s still that nagging worry that something will go wrong, that this will be his only chance to actually _play_ and that something will go wrong.

Even if this goes well, there’s always the chance he’ll still get benched anyway when Ben comes back.

Fuck it. He’s going to show them how fan-fucking-tastic he is at being small forward.

Taking a deep breath, Andy sets his shoulders.

“I got this.”

\---

_“I love you, Andy Kang!”_

God, he can’t stop thinking about that, how it was _Devon_ who’d said it. From the locker room to Two-Eyed Mandy’s Diner, Andy hadn’t been able to shake the grin from his face; that and winning the game made Andy feel on top of the world.

He’s even willing to let the first half of the game slide.

… Okay, that’s an absolute lie; Andy’s still pissed at his team for nearly losing the game just because they didn’t want him out on the court with them, and he’s definitely planning on getting some sort of justice for that at some point.

But for now, he’s enjoying his fifteen minutes of fame, crammed into one of the diner’s booths with Tom and the team and, when he shows up, Devon.

\---

The sound of their friends' soft snoring fills the darkened living room.

“Do you believe in ghosts?”

Rolling over to look at Devon, Andy thinks about it with all the seriousness a seven year old can muster. When Andy thinks about _‘ghosts,’_ the first thing to come to mind are floating bedsheets with weird faces drawn on them

“No, ‘cause ghosts aren’t real,” Andy whispers.

It’s silent, save for Dan’s loud snoring, but there’s a frown on Devon’s face that says he has something to say.

“Do you?” Andy asks this time, still just as quiet as before.

“I dunno,” Devon answers honestly. “Maybe.”

\---

“So you’ve got mind powers now?” Andy asks as he grabs another slice of pizza. “When did that happen?”

“Couple days ago,” Ava shrugs like it’s no big deal, like she isn’t some sort of real life Matilda now. “I’m still working on getting the hang of it.”

“Huh.”

Lucas lets out an exhausted sigh as he slides down further in the booth, letting Cattywampus bat at his fingers. “Sure, why not? Mind powers are probably the least weird thing about this whole situation.”

Letting the loud racket of the arcade and the flashing lights of Pizza Mega wash over him, Andy relaxes; sure, the whole _‘there are at least a dozen people in comas and this happens every few decades apparently’_ has got them all on edge, but pizza and cheap games always makes things easier to deal with.

Or at least puts the big issues on the backburner for a while.

Right now it’s just the three of them, and the kitten Devon found, hanging out in the booth, while everyone else ran off into the arcade a while ago.

Lily really was serious about finding out if she still had the high score on Meteor Madness, and Noah’s always had a weakness for skee ball.

“Should we get another pizza?” Lucas asks, handing Cattywampus over to Ava’s grabby hands.

“Anything but Hawaiian.”

“You’re a heathen,” Andy tells her, throwing a balled up napkin at her.

“Pineapple doesn’t belong on pizza, Kang,” Ava rolls her eyes and throws the napkin back at him. “Right, Cattywampus?”

His phones buzzes after Lucas slides out of the booth, stage whispering that he’ll get another Hawaiian pizza – extra pineapple this time – and he’s surprised when it isn’t a text from his mom asking him what time he’ll be home.
    
    
    Dude you’ll never guess what’s still here
    
    
    Road brawlers!!!

“Well shit,” Andy says under his breath, mouth quirking up into a half smile. He shows Ava the texts when she makes a questioning noise.

“Wow, they still have that Street Fighters rip-off?”

“Guess so,” Andy says, sending off a text back to Devon.
    
    
    Where? I need to see if I can still kick your butt at it.

It doesn’t take long before his phone is lighting up with a reply.
    
    
    Them’s fightin words
    
    
    Head towards the back and make a left at the ddr game

“Save me a slice,” Andy tosses over his shoulder as he gets up and heads off to go find Devon in the maze of games.

“I make no promises.”

Following the vague directions, he finds the DDR game, Stacy and Lily playing against each other, and then makes a left and keeps going until he finally finds Devon, who is in the middle of a match against the game.

“Ready to get wrecked?” Andy asks as comes to a stop next Devon, who grins mischievously at him which _does_ things to Andy’s heart, bumping his shoulder against Andy’s.

“I dunno. Are you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i still haven't finished It Lives in the Woods yet, mostly because of how hard it is to earn diamonds,,,,


End file.
